The inkjet type recording apparatus has come into widespread use for various types of recording mediums as an apparatus for recording a high definition image. In this inkjet recording apparatus, when the recording medium is a flexible fabric, the recording medium is fed to the position below the recording head in an endless manner by a conveyance belt, and ink is emitted from the recording head to the recording medium.
In this case, the ink emitted from the recording head may reach the area protruding from the edge of a recording medium and may stick to the conveyance belt by penetrating the recording medium (printing through) or going through so-called “printing without border”. In this case, the ink is transferred to the recording medium having been supplied newly and the recording medium is contaminated. Normally, a mechanism for cleaning the conveyance belt is installed on the inkjet recording apparatus equipped with such a conveyance mechanism (for example Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkai 2003-205658).
To put it more specifically, in the cleaning mechanism described in the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkai 2003-205658, the guide roller (14) of a conveyance belt (4) is placed opposite to the cleaning roller (cleaning sponge 17b) having been absorbed a cleaning liquid (water), as shown in FIG. 10. A conveyance belt passes through these rollers. During the course of passage, cleaning roller is rotated by following the conveyance belt, and absorbs and removes ink attached to the conveyance belt (paragraph numbers 0016 and 0025).
However, in the cleaning mechanism of the Patent Document 1, the cleaning roller is driven by the conveyance belt. This ensures the cleaning roller to be impervious to damage and provides excellent roller durability, but an increase in the amount of ink deposited on the conveyance belt or an increased in the conveyance speed of the recording medium (conveyance belt traveling speed) is considered to cause a considerable reduction in the efficiency of removing the ink deposited on the conveyance belt, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
If the cleaning roller is designed to be driven by itself without being driven by the conveyance belt, a high ink removal rate can be maintained, as shown in FIG. 13. However, the cleaning roller rubs against the conveyance belt, and this reduces roller durability. The object of the present invention is to improve roller durability while maintaining a high efficiency of removing the ink deposited on the conveyance belt.